Waaaaaaaaaaayyy, I won a hand!

ZedsDeadBa

Looking back at this hand I figured I might get a slap again for the way I played it but at the time it felt perfect.







PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancedevonfish5Small blind £0.02£0.02£3.91_Mr_Chips_Big blind £0.04£0.06£0.95 Your hole cards55   iamrodhullFold    bell270727Call £0.04£0.10£0.89ZedsDeadBaCall £0.04£0.14£1.58bully60Call £0.04£0.18£1.04devonfish5Raise £0.14£0.32£3.77_Mr_Chips_Fold    bell270727Fold    ZedsDeadBaRaise £0.60£0.92£0.98bully60Fold    devonfish5Call £0.48£1.40£3.29Flop  KK5   devonfish5Check    ZedsDeadBaCheck    Turn  J   devonfish5Bet £0.08£1.48£3.21ZedsDeadBaCall £0.08£1.56£0.90River  3   devonfish5Bet £0.08£1.64£3.13ZedsDeadBaAll-in £0.90£2.54£0.00devonfish5Call £0.82£3.36£2.31devonfish5ShowQA   ZedsDeadBaShow55   ZedsDeadBaWinFull House, 5s and Kings£3.10 £3.10

DeucesLive

woohoo, N1! now onto the bad... sorry

#1- you have a stack of £1.60. You could have won a lot more here by fullstacking- if your roll is short and you have to play short, that's fine- if you were short because you lost a hand recently and didn't reload, or have enough to fullstack, then lesson learnt- reload when you lose a pot! I never let myself go below £3.50 at NL4, once I lose a smallish pot or a handful of blinds, I quickly top up until I've held my balance over £4 there. BIG thing to fix, because when you hit these hands you want to be paid big.

#2- why on earth are you reraising pre with 55? Again, your stack is only barely deep enough to setmine with implied odds, though it is just about, but reraising is insanity- you're committed to the hand whatever comes down. What do you do when it comes down KQ4 or something, which it'll do a LOT more than you hitting your set? Kamikazee jams with small pps are tournament strategies, or pure gambling in cash games. 

I don't mind the flop check too badly, but I'd get some more money in on the turn. As it is you stacked him, so wp on that front- I might well have scared him off on the turn. By the turn you should be aware of how vulnerable your hand is, however- if a third king comes down your hand is counterfeit to a higher pp or jack, and if another jack comes down your hand is counterfeit as well. It's not the absolute nuts. Because you're so short I'd put in a little raise to 25/30p, keep him interested, commit yourself when you have the best hand. He has no choice but to call any river bet then.

Anyway, gj! Keep winning hands, make monies! ^^

DOHHHHHHH

Yeh there's some worrying stuff here Zeds.

The most important is your stack.

Remember our whole strategy here is about Value. We can't get full value if we have less than 50 big blinds.

GREGHOGG

preflop is madness!

ZedsDeadBa

In Response to Re: Waaaaaaaaaaayyy, I won a hand!:

woohoo, N1! now onto the bad... sorry #1- you have a stack of £1.60. You could have won a lot more here by fullstacking- if your roll is short and you have to play short, that's fine- if you were short because you lost a hand recently and didn't reload, or have enough to fullstack, then lesson learnt- reload when you lose a pot! I never let myself go below £3.50 at NL4, once I lose a smallish pot or a handful of blinds, I quickly top up until I've held my balance over £4 there. BIG thing to fix, because when you hit these hands you want to be paid big.

#2- why on earth are you reraising pre with 55?......

Posted by DeucesLive

Hi deuces,

1. I've been losing so many buy-ins I figured............I dont know what I figured to be honest, but everyone else at the time was sat on a min buy-in and I guess I was just nervous about going in with yet another £4.00.

What's really fricking ridiculous is that this was the first time I had thought that this might be a good idea!

2. Again, fear,  I thought any pocket pair leaves me at least a 50/50 shot so getting it all-in pre saves me making decisions later which clearly I'm chuffing useless at making at the moment. I had imagined my pre raise was in effect an all-in and whatever came I was happy to be committed. As it turned out the flop slowed me down in an attempt to make sure I got his money.

Hope this makes sense.

Z.

DeucesLive

One thing that separates the winning players from the losing players is dealing with downswings. Every player can play well when they're winning- who can't? It's easy. But when you're not hitting cards, almost every single player (myself included) finds it impacting on their game- that's something I'm trying to work on.

I think from a psychological perspective, we're not naturally equipped mentally to deal with failure- when things go against us, it plays on our mind- that's natural. There's nothing you can do. What the top winning players have done though, is been through that and toughened themselves to it- they don't like it any more than we do, but they accept it's part of poker and trust in their ability and bankroll to ride it out until their luck turns- because that's all it is, luck. Poker has no memory, and just because you've been getting outdrawn loads doesn't mean it'll keep happening forever- you just have to keep making correct decisions and trust it'll work out in the end.

When you find yourself making decisions that you wouldn't normally because you've been running bad (and this hand is a PERFECT example) then it's time to re-evaluate. Either set it in your mind to refocus, play your natural game and ride out the storm, or take a day/few days/week out, whatever's necessary, to get yourself back in a winning frame of mind.

You HAVE to approach every session with the mindset that you WILL win. Go into the session half-hearted, thinking 'here we go... how am I going to get outdrawn today?' and you'll lose, that's a guarantee. Positive attitude will reap positive results.

Eventually.

DrSharp

Cant really add much to whats already been said Zed. The way to play small pocket pairs (especially at 4NL) is to see the flop as cheaply as you possibly can and try to hit a set (or better in this case). Just flat call the 14p raise pre.

Once you hit, i dont mind the check. It is the right thing to do probably. However, when villain bets in to the turn, i would advise a raise, you have to build that pot up so you can shove the river. Villain does have a tendency to call away at most things from what i remember so fire some money in. At least he paid you off on the river anyhow.

Glad the tides turning for you mate. Just be more confident in your game and the monies will return. Dont stop the variance from putting your money on the table. Its even more tilting when you win a hand but missed out on the value because of a fear of variance. Good luck.

grantorino

I definitely think you should bet this flop.